No “further redistribution”
FDP announces the end of major social reforms
8/31/2023 7:01 am
After much back and forth comes the basic child security. On the part of the FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai, however, the expansion of the welfare state should be over for the time being. He cites the current economic situation as the reason.
After the agreement on basic child security and the significant increase in citizen income, the FDP ruled out further major social reforms for the traffic light coalition. “The basic child security is the last major socio-political reform of this legislative period,” said FDP Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai of the “Bild” newspaper. “In the current situation, in view of inflation and high interest rates, it cannot be about expanding the welfare state.”
There shouldn’t be any “further redistribution”; it has to be about earning money. “The right framework conditions must be created for this and the political focus must also be on this from now on,” said Djir-Sarai. Finance Minister Christian Lindner had already said on Monday that he was assuming that the federal government would not be able to finance any major social reforms for several years after the basic child security system.
The traffic light coalition wants to bundle previous benefits such as child benefit, benefits from the citizen benefit for children and the child supplement in the basic child security. Greater clarity and the use of a central platform are intended to reach many families who, due to ignorance or bureaucratic hurdles, have not been able to access the money to which they are entitled.
With citizen money, the successor to Hartz IV, children under the age of six currently receive 318 euros a month. This amount increases with age, for 14 to 17 year olds there is 420 euros. Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil announced on Tuesday that the rates in 2024 should rise to 357 euros for children under the age of six and 471 euros for 14 to 17 year olds. Meanwhile, adult single people should get 563 euros per month from the beginning of 2024 instead of 502 euros today.